“Those who try to harm us, we harm them,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to The Associated Press.

“I told you many times before that we are developing breakthrough technology to deal with the tunnel threat,” Netanyahu said at a meeting of his Likud Party. “We are implementing it. Today, we located a tunnel and we destroyed it.”

Israel has been building a sensor-equipped underground wall along the 36-mile border with Gaza. The $1.1 billion project is due to be finished in 2019.

“We see Hamas as being responsible for any attempt emanating from its territory, and carried out by people who are under its authority, to impinge on our sovereignty,” Netanyahu said.

During Israel’s 2014 conflict in Gaza, Palestinian forces used tunnels to cross back and forth into Israel.

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Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus, an Israeli military spokesman, said the tunnel was being dug from the Gaza town of Khan Younis. The tunnel was nearing the Israeli community of Kibbutz Kissufim when it was destroyed.

“The IDF (does not intend to escalate the situation but stands prepared for a variety of scenarios,” Conricus said, as reported by Reuters.

The 2014 war between Israel and its opponents in Gaza killed at least 2,251 Palestinians and left 11,231 injured. Israel lost 67 soldiers and six civilians. About 1,600 Israelis were injured in the conflict.